The Deepest Connection
by mollybugs
Summary: A short tale of daddydaughter love. This tells of the deep love between a father and child, told through Ginny and Arthur Weasley. Please read and review. Dedicated to my daddy.


**AN – I was inspired to write this by GothicMuse13's story "Happy Father's Day."  It's not a Father's Day story, but is it about father-daughter love.  The actual story is inspired by my fifth birthday and a present that my dad gave me.  My dad is a wonderful man, and I could never ask for a better guy to me my daddy.  It's like the shirt at the mall says "Any man can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a Daddy."  This ficlet is dedicated to my daddy. **

**Summary:  This is a mixture of two things.  One is Ginny's eulogy for Arthur, written when he passes away.  The other is something that happened when she turned five.  It goes from happy to sad, but I hope it will be liked.**

**Disclaimer:  All things Harry Potter is not my property.  They are the property of the brilliant J.K. Rowling.**

_*~The Deepest Connection~*_

_                "Hey, princess!  You know, I know something special is happening today, but it just slipped my mind!  What could it be?" Arthur Weasley asked his newly-five-year-old daughter with an expression of fake confusion.  Ginny giggled and hugged her daddy._

                "Silly daddy!  It's my **_birthday_!" she said.**

                "Why, of course!  How could I forget when my princess has reminded me so many times!" he said, laughing and taking her in his arms.  "What are we doing for your birthday, Princess?"

                "Mummy said we can go to the muggle restaurant for dinny and then you can give me my pwesents," she said, smiling an impossibly large smile that forced her eyes shut and revealed her two missing front teeth.

                "The muggle restaurant?  You're mum must love you lots to let you go to a restaurant!"

                "Silly daddy, it's just a muggle restaurant!  Mummy said she may eben let you go in a muggle store if you be good at dinny."  Ginny giggled at the look of false offense her daddy displayed.

                "If **I'm** good?  I think you're the one she need's to watch!" he said, placing her on the ground and poking her in the tummy.

                "No, you!" she retorted.

                "No you!"

                "No you!" 

                "No you!"  She giggled as he pointed to himself instead of her.  Then she began to laugh hysterically and roll on the floor as he began to argue with himself.  He was moving back and forth as if he were two different people, pointing to the empty space across from him and telling that air "No you!"  Ginny was giggling like mad, kicking her feet in the air and rolling on the floor.

                "Daddy. stop!  You're so silly!" she cried.  Arthur laughed and swooped down to tickle his vulnerable daughter.

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                At dinner, the whole family had been good, and Arthur had stepped into a muggle store, exiting with what seemed like nothing.  This was because Ginny couldn't see the bag that he subtly passed to Molly to hide in her purse while George and Fred were distracting her.  They all headed home and Ginny burst into the kitchen, seating herself at the head of the table.

                "Pwesents, please!" she shouted with a giggle.  Molly chuckled and went into the living room, returning shortly with a little red wagon filled with boxes.  Ginny squealed with glee.

                "Here you are, Guinea," Forge said simultaneously.  She giggled at their nickname for her.  They always called her that, pretending they couldn't pronounce her name right.  She ate it up of course.  Her brothers were her idols, and anything they did was funny.  They handed her box together.  She tore the card off and began to read slowly.

                "Happy birthday, Guinea.  Thanks for being so un-buh-l-lee-vuh-b-bly cute.  Enjoy your birthday."  She smiled.  She had to sound out 'unbelievably', because she was still learning big words, but she loved to read.

                "Thanks, Forge!" she said, tearing into her present.  It was… a box.  She giggled and opened the box to find… another box.  She kept opening boxes to find more boxes until there was no more boxes.  Ginny looked like she was going to cry. 

                "Oh, Gin, don't cry.  Here's your real present."  George handed her a little bag, out of which she pulled a little book.  She read the title as Muggle Fairy Tales.  

                "Thanks, Forge!" she said, hugging each brother.  Ginny then proceeded to get a present from each of her brothers.  Ron gave her a toy broom that was remote-controlled and not for her to ride.  She could tie her toy animals to it and make them go for rides on the broom.  Percy gave her a book, titled Aesop's Fables.  He told her that it was a muggle book, but he knew she'd love it – he did.  Ginny always loved the books Percy gave her.  Bill and Charlie gave her a joint-gift.  They gave her a bag full of candy from Honeydukes that they'd bought during their last Hogsmeade trip of the year.  Of course, it was all nonperishable candy, seeing as it was July and they'd bought it in late May.  When it came turn for her parents, her dad left.  Molly told her that the wagon was from both her and Arthur.

                Arthur returned with a large box.  Ginny quickly opened the box and pulled out the gift.  It was a stuffed animal.  An cat with peach and orange stripes.  It had a black collar.  Hanging from the collar was a little golden heart that had "Princess" engraved on it in beautiful cursive.  Ginny hugged the kitty and looked at her daddy.  "Thank you Daddy," she whispered.  Arthur hugged his daughter. 

                "You're very welcome, Princess.  This is so that you can always think of me, even if I'm not at home.  If you miss me, just look at the kitty and know that I'm coming back."  Ginny nodded.  Ginny stood up in her chair, holding on to her kitty, and kissed her daddy on the cheek.

                "Cake!" Molly cried.

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_                The deepest connection is between a daddy and his daughter.  Even when the daughter is all grown up, married, and has a family of her own, the daddy is always the one man she can always count on.  A daddy will always be there for you.  My daddy was always there for me.  He would never tell me I was stupid or yell at me.  He would always tell me he loved me and that I would always be his princess.  When ever he tucked me into bed as a child, he would tell me, "I don't know how I got so lucky as to have such a beautiful angel like you as my daughter."  Sometimes, he would tell me that he was glad I was his only daughter.  He said it would have been less special if there had been three angels in his life, the second being my mum.  Daddy was a wonderful father.  He would treat all of us to daddy dates, as he called them.  He would take us all out separately, treat us to an delicious meal, buy us something we liked, like a toy or a book, and then walk us home, telling us some of the things he loved about us and how lucky he was to have us as children._

_                When we went to Hogwarts, he bought us each something special to keep with us to remember him and by while we were gone.  When I got my acceptance letter, he handed me a little locket and told me that if I was ever sad or lonely, I could just look at the picture and he'd be there, smiling at me to take away all my pain and sorrow.  I still wear that locket to this day.  And I would bet a million Galleons that my brothers all have their gifts still.  This is what my daddy meant to us.  He was the only person who could just smile at us and take away all our pain.  There are things in my life that I couldn't have overcome if I had not had his picture in my locket, smiling at me.  When I first dated, my father didn't try to stop me, he just told me that he would always be there even if I fell in love and some man took me away from him.  When I graduated, he hugged me for what seemed like an hour, telling me that he would do whatever he could to help me get started in the world.  And when I was five, he gave me this orange kitty.  It had a golden tag shaped like a heart, and the tag has 'Princess' engraved on it._

_                In my second year at Hogwarts, all the students had to sleep in the Great Hall.  I slept with my kitty, and I didn't care who made fun of me.  Why?  Because it was how I remembered my daddy.  And with my kitty, I knew my daddy was there, if not in body then in spirit.  And in seventh year, one of my roommates asked me, "You still have that stupid cat?"  And I punched her.  I got detention, yes, and house points taken away, but I didn't care.  From then on, everyone knew how special my cat was, and that anyone who made fun of it would get a black eye.  I didn't care if it was just a stuffed animal.  It was filled with my daddy's love.  And that's the best gift you can get._

_                My father was the most caring, generous, loving man ever.  He had a heart made of gold, even if he didn't actually have a lot of that.  With one smile, he could make you feel safe, like nothing could ever hurt you.  When I first got pregnant, and I was terrified, he just hugged me, took my hand, and looked at me.  And I knew I'd be safe.  When my mum got sick, he stayed by her side for twenty days straight, keeping her occupied so that she wouldn't cry because of her illness.  When she recovered, he threw her the biggest party ever, taking her home to find all her friends and family there.  When my husband's relatives were murdered in an attempt on his life when we were still in Hogwarts, my father accepted Harry into our home without any worries about money or food or room.  As I sat with my father in his dying moments, I kissed him softly on the forehead and said, "Thank you for everything you have ever given me in my life.  I love you Daddy."  He didn't say anything.  He just looked at me, and smiled.  And I knew that he was in peace.  And then he went to sleep.  _

_                Now that we've come to say our last goodbyes to my daddy, and see him off with a grand farewell, I'd like to share something he once told me, when I was scared of losing him because he worked at the Ministry.  He told me that whenever it was that we said our last goodbyes, it would never be our last goodbyes.  He told me that no matter when he passed away, no matter how or why, he would always still be with me.  He told me that he will always be by my side, holding my hand.  And I know he is.  My Daddy was a wonderful man.  I was privileged to have him as my father, and I am even more privileged to know that for all my life, he will be with me, holding my hand.  And I know, when I go up to join him, he will be take me by the hand, and say "Welcome home, princess."  I know this, because he promised this to me.  And he promised that he will always watch over me, and all of my family.  I couldn't have asked for a better daddy, and I can only thank him for being my inspiration in life.  I loved him, very much._

                So read Ginny Weasley's eulogy for her father.  Her father had died at a very old age, and she had asked to give the eulogy.  Sighing, she folded the paper into her purse and prepared for bed.  Harry would be working late, so she didn't have to wait for him to come to bed.  She turned off the light of her bedroom, grabbed her kitty, and cried herself to sleep.

**_The End_**

****

**AN- I know, the end half was sad.  But it shows how deep a father's love can be.  She still sleeps with the kitty!  I'd like to finish this story by explaining what inspired it.  The first half, at least.  So here goes:**

**When I was five, I absolutely loved Barney.  I loved all things Barney.  So for my fifth birthday, my dad gave me a small stuffed Barney.  And I'm fifteen now.  Guess what?  I still have that Barney.  I never lost it, never gave it up or threw it away.  That Barney means more to me than all the money in the world.  So when I read "Happy Father's Day" by GothicMuse13, I was inspired.  I love stories of father-daughter connections.  Because it's true.  The deepest connection is between a daddy and his daughter.  But I didn't want to write just another Father's Day fic.  I wanted to be original.  So I drew from my own experience.  I wrote the eulogy to develop on daddy-daughter relationships.  Luckily, I have yet to write a eulogy for my father.  And I hope I won't have to for a long time.  **

**Now, for all of you who are lucky enough to have your daddy in your life, never forget that you are so lucky.  Always remind your daddy that he is a special man and that you love him very much.  Never let a little tiff between the two of you make you think you hate him.  And don't wait for holidays like Christmas or Father's Day to let him know just how wonderful and special he is.  And remember, a hug can say a thousand things.  You can always trust your daddy, don't forget that.  And never forget to let him know you love him.  Life can be cut short at anytime, so even if you fight, let him know that you love him.  _Never_ forget to tell him.  I don't.**


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